KARACHI, Aug 18: Specialists and doctors, expressing their concern over schoolchildren’s inclination to the addiction of pan, betel-nut, gutka, etc., have urged the provincial education ministry to fulfil its responsibility in this regard by imposing an effective and immediate ban on the sale of such items on the premises of schools and college.

They were speaking at a press briefing on “Oral Cancer — A Looming Disaster” in Karachi Press Club here on Monday.

They observed that a huge number of youngsters, in the age group of 10-15 years, had been suffering from mouth cancer in most cases due to the consumption of such items.

Dr Kamran Wasti, President of the Pakistan Dental Association, pointed out that the growing number of mouth cancer cases warranted immediate attention of health planners. He said that the government must ensure preventive and effective measures to combat the menace of sweet supari, pan, gutka, etc., and completely ban promotion of such items through advertisements on electronic and print media as well as billboards.

He appealed to the media people not to accept such advertisements and called for obligatory printing of health warning and ingredients, besides name and address of the manufacturers, on each packet of sweet supari, gutka, etc.

“Unless common people developed perception about the negative aspect of consuming such items, their sale would show no decline,” he said.

Dr Qaiser Sajjad, an ENT specialist and an office-bearer of the Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi, regretted that despite having a realization of the serious repercussions, majority of the consumers seemed not ready to quit chewing pan and betel-nut containing items.

He pointed out that such items caused mouth cancer and this problem included tongue cancer, tonsil and laryngeal carcinoma which accounted for 70 to 80 per cent of all cancer cases.

Hamid Maker, Chairman of the Helpline Trust, recalled that during his recent visit to Pakistan, the former chief minister of Bihar, Lallo Prasad Yadev had expressed his astonishment over the open sale of lethal gutka in a market in Rawalpindi. Mr Yadev, he added, had pointed out that such things were already banned in his country.

Welcoming the recent announcement by the Sindh Chief Minister, Ali Mohammad Mahar, imposing a ban on the sale of supari and gutka, Mr Maker stressed that the ban must be made effective.

He regretted that in spite of being imposed for the 10th time, the ban had proved ineffective yet as such hazardous things were still available at every pan shop, school canteens, vendors, railway stations, etc.—PPI